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Fashion watch and accessories maker Fossil Group Inc. reported weaker fourth-quarter sales and said the stronger U.S. dollar and aggressive discounting hurt its profit. Fossil also said Tuesday that it signed a licensing agreement to design, develop and distribute Kate Spade New York watches through 2025.

Richardson-based Fossil reported a profit of $154.1 million, or $3 a share, in the period ended Jan. 3, versus a profit of $148.5 million, or $2.68 a share, a year ago.

Total fourth-quarter sales were flat to a year ago at $1.065 billion. Sales of watches and leather goods partly declined slightly due to the impact of a stronger dollar. Jewelry sales increased 13 percent.

Results were reported after the market closed.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a fourth-quarter profit of $3.07 a share. Total sales were forecast to rise 5.3 percent to $1.12 billion.

Fossil is one of the companies that some believed may be hit by a Jan. 15 decision from Switzerland’s central bank to abandon the Swiss franc’s cap against the euro. The franc shot up by 30 percent and created worries that exporters of Swiss made watches face a big challenge ahead.

Cowen and Co. analysts said in a report last month that the impact would be greater on some of Fossil’s competitors, such as Movado, which have a higher exposure to Swiss made materials and labor.

Swiss-made is a small piece of Fossil’s business so far. It’s well below 5 percent of total sales and represents about 500,000 watches a year. But the potential to expand its Swiss watch business has potential with brand licensing, such as the Tory Burch watches launched late last year. Kate Spade watches will be added in 2016.

Fossil’s stock price has declined 17 percent in the past year as U.S. mall traffic slowed and the dollar’s strength against other currencies, particularly the euro, lowered profits. Some of its largest U.S. customers are department stores and half of Fossil’s sales are from outside of the U.S.

State Farm is moving into the first building as construction continues on the entire project.

State Farm Insurance will start moving into its huge Richardson campus later this week.

Two years after the project was announced, State Farm start will begin relocating the first of about 8,000 workers into its new regional office campus in the $1.5 billion CityLine complex at Bush Turnpike and Plano Road.

“We plan to begin the first of many employee moves on Thursday, January 22,” State Farm spokesman Gary Stephenson said in an email. “This process will be in several stages over the coming weeks and months depending on various department schedules.

“The new facility is very nice and we are very much pleased with it,” he said. “We are very pleased to be able to grow our business from here and we look forward to a

Three of the office towers developer KDC is building for State Farm are almost done. A fourth building on the east side of Plano Road is just getting started.

Work continues at CityLine on a regional office for Raytheon Corp., an Aloft Hotel, hundreds of apartments and a new shopping center anchored by Whole Foods Market.

It’s been almost two years since State Farm and investor KDC announced plans for the big mixed-use development in Richardson’s Telecom Corridor.

The CityLine shopping center is being built at Renner and Plano roads.

Developer KDC has quietly broken ground on two more building projects at its $1.5 billion CityLine development in Richardson.

Work has started on the 66,000-square-foot CityLine retail center at the northeast corner of Renner and Plano roads. The shopping center will be anchored by a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market grocery store.

Steve Brown

A 150-room Aloft Hotel and apartments are being built next to State Farm's office towers.

Whole Foods plans to open its new CityLine store in early 2016.

And across the street on the west side of Plano Road construction has kicked off on a 150-room Aloft Hotel which will be built adjacent to State Farm Insurance’s new office campus.

The hotel is next door to a 532-unit apartment community KDC and JLB Partners are building in the project.

State Farm is building its fourth Richardson office tower on the east side of Plano Road at Bush Turnpike.

State Farm Insurance is just weeks away from moving into the first of its four big office buildings under construction in Richardson.

The Illinois-based insurance giant later this month plans to start relocating the first of about 8,000 workers into its new regional office campus in the $1.5 billion CityLine complex at Bush Turnpike and Plano Road.

Three of the office towers developer KDC is building for State Farm are almost done. A fourth building on the east side of Plano Road is just getting started.

“We are looking forward to this next step, in the coming weeks,” State Farm spokesman Gary Stephenson said Monday. “And are very much focused on a smooth move in, furnishings and people, and the fact that the location is still an active construction site.

“Glad to say, and it’s a compliment to all involved, that the project continues to move along on schedule.”

While the first of State Farm’s towers is about ready to open its doors, work continues on a regional office for Raytheon Corp., an Aloft Hotel, hundreds of apartments and a new shopping center anchored by Whole Foods Market.

More than a year of building activity remains before the current projects at CityLine are finished.

It’s been almost two years since State Farm and investor KDC announced plans for the big mixed-use development in Richardson’s Telecom Corridor.

The 186-acre CityLine project will take several more years to complete.

An investor that’s already a big player in the Telecom Corridor has purchased another Richardson building.

Pillar Commercial has acquired Collins Square, a 213,864-square-foot office building on Collins Boulevard east of U.S. Highway 75. Pillar made the purchase in with Origin Capital Partners.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The 4-story Collins Square is almost fully leased to The Travelers Cos. The building was constructed in 1986 and renovated in 2002.

“Having Travelers insurance as the anchor tenant was one of the compelling reasons we selected this asset,” Manny Ybarra, Pillar Commercial founder and president, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Travelers team and are equally excited about our new venture with Origin.”

The new owners plan to make upgrades to the building over the next six months.

Pillar Commercial owns one of the largest office complexes in the Telecom Corridor. It’s 2-building Lakeside office campus on North Central Expressway north of Campbell Road is rented to State Farm Insurance.

California high-tech firm e2v Inc. is expanding to Texas for the first time with an office in Richardson

The Silicon Valley-based company has rented office space 1302 East Collins Blvd. where it will locate a new operation.

E2v leased about a quarter of the STARTech building to house its engineers and research and development employees.

“This new facility, which will be fully functional by the end of the year, will provide us a local launching pad for 12 months until we acquire a permanent Richardson location after the first year,” Brad Little, e2v vice president said in a statement. “Having an operation in Richardson is a critical step in e2v’s continued strategy for growth and focus on innovation.”

E2v serves customers in the civil aerospace, defense, space, industrial and other markets.

The Richardson Economic Development Partnership recruited the Milpitas CA-based firm.

“E2v’s new operation speaks to the fact that Richardson is a welcoming and accommodating location for high-tech companies from the Silicon Valley and other locations, to consider when wanting to grow their business,” John Jacobs, Richardson’s executive vice president of economic development, said in a statement.

Richardson-based Fossil Group Inc. posted a 16 percent third quarter profit increase of $103.7 million, or $1.96 a share, in the period ended Oct. 4, compared with a profit of $89.7 million, or $1.58 a share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Fossil to report a profit of $1.82 a share and a total sales increase of 8.5 percent to $879 million.

Results were reported after the market closed. Fossil also said Tuesday that it has renewed its license agreement with Michael Kors for another 10 years.

Fossil’s shares gained 53 cents to close at $103.75 on Tuesday. While the company’s shares are trading higher in the aftermarket Tuesday, it’s stock price is down almost 20 percent from a year ago. Fossil has previously warned that mall traffic was weaker, and department stores were keeping their inventories lean and cutting prices.

Retail Metrics analyst Ken Perkins said expectations for retail earnings growth has fallen off in recent months. The 124 retailers in the firm’s retail index are expected to post a 6.3 percent increase in third quarter profits. That’s down from expectations of 16 percent third-quarter earnings growth forecast back in June.

Fossil makes most of its money in the third and fourth quarters. Analysts expect it to report a profit for the year of $7.16 a share on revenue of $3.57 billion.

In addition to selling products to other retailers, Fossil sells directly to consumers with 558 stores, about half of which are in North America.